We booked this motel for a cheap and hopefully cheerful final night stay of our annual holiday. We had to let ourselves into the Formula1 accommodation with my credit card because there are only certain times of the day when the motel is staffed. You are then given codes to tap into the locking system to gain access to the premises. As a result , you are therefore unable to see the accommodation before they have taken your money.

The rooms were sordid: the Formula 1 website shows images of lovely clean fresh white bed linen but we were greeted with soiled bedspreads and revoltingly stained carpets. The mattresses on the beds were so thin that you could feel the springs. The "non-smoking" rooms stank of stale cigarette smoke and air freshener and actually contained an ashtray. It made my flesh crawl to be frank.

We asked to be moved to an alternative room and found that to be equally dreadful. We then reasonably asked for a refund because we were not staying ( we could not stay in such a dump, feeling very anxious about the obvious lack of hygiene) but were told that we could not have a refund.

I wrote via email to express my anger at being unable to have a refund for accommodation as soon as we returned home(we decided to give France up as a bad job at this stage and drove home instead).

The customer services also failed to offer a refund and failed even to mention my name. Here is their response......

Dear Customer,

Thank you for taking the time to write to us following your stay at hotelF1 Chartres.

We are sorry that our service and performance did not meet your expectations, and we would like to offer our sincerest apology.

(but you will notice that they are happy to keep our money, therefore demonstrating that they don't give a toss about our distress because they are NOT really concerned at all)

hotelF1 establishments are dedicated to offering you the best possible service for your stays and your opinion is very important to us.

The necessary measures are being taken to bring hotel performance to the level of quality defined in our Quality Charter.

We would like to thank you once again for your comments. Your input enables us to make improvements and continue to show our dedication to your loyalty.

Sincerely,

Your hotelF1 Chartres hotel.

The hotel of this chain rather cannot surprise. You get more or less exactly what you expect: a very basic room with no wardrobes, just a bed to sleep on and a WC/shower in the floor.
The problem we had with this hotel was his distance to the city center (Cathedral) with no bus running on weekends. So, if you do not have a car, seriously reconsider staying there.

Well it is certainly cheap but it is also pretty nasty. I don't mind the lack of facilities and the lack of a lift. You expect that with a cheap hotel. I don't even mind the surly reception although it wouldn't cost them anything to smile and be friendly. But the rooms are supposed to be non-smoking and ours stank of cigarette smoke and we had to fumigate the place first.
The loos are pretty awful as there is a basic design flaw. They are individual multigender cubicles (not a problem in itself) . But there is no seat to lift up. So when a bloke goes for a pee....well, you can imagine the rest. It can get quite messy.
The breakfast is pretty awful, no friut, no yogurt, just sweet meuseli and some disgusting sugary friut compote that tastes nothing like fruit but with a strong wiff of artificial flavouring. And coffee that tastes even worse than Starbucks. But at least you pay extra for breakfast so just don't buy it there. Go somewhere else for breakers.
Still the room was reasonably clean apart from a disgusting looking stain on the undersheet which we happend to see by accident. So If you are on your own and you want a cheap place just to sleep for a night it is probably bearable but I would never stay there again.
Oh, and the free WiFi didn't work for me.

This is your typical motel type of hotel where you would only spend one night......not for those looking for a holiday as these hotels are often located on the edge of town / industrial estate in France.

Definately worth the money for a quick night's sleep when you are on a journey.

As these hotels are a chain, they will always have standards and are generally all the same. The rooms are clean and basic with a wash basin and television.

Toilets and showers are located on the main corridoors.

Rooms are sometimes smoky and there is nothing you can do about it.
The rooms can often get very hot in the Summer.

Atleast you know that which ever Formule1 you go to, there will be the same standard and you can have a nights sleep.

Sound does drift though and you may get woken up by people checking in throughout the night or people in other rooms.

Reccomended for a quick one night stay whilst travelling.